An Unexpected Visitor
by Kylestra
Summary: An unexpected visitor steps through the anomaly, and she has a revelation for Stephen that will turn his world upside down. Set before episode 6 and after episode six, sort of. Warning: Stephen/Cutter slash


An unexpected visitor

Summary: An unexpected visitor steps through the anomaly, and she has a revelation for Stephen that will turn his world upside down. Set before episode 6 and after episode six, sort of. Warning: Stephen/Cutter slash

Disclaimer: I don't own primeval, which means I'm not making any money out of this, which I should, do you know how many good ideas I have. Hmm, maybe I'll give ITV a call...(starts dialling)

Authors note: I finished this very quickly because I know myself and if I don't finish this before the new episodes of Primeval, I never will. I'm sure I've overlooked some mistakes in my haste, but you're just going to have to live with that. This is my attempt to get Stephen and Nick back together after the last episode, except my way is a little more complicated, I hope you enjoy it!

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_Set before episode 6_

The coming of fall and fouler weather had not persuaded the anomalies to stop appearing. In fact they had been collectively staring at a shiny, silvery time rip for two days in an unrelenting downpour. Nothing had happened so far.

Only the two men ordered to stand guard were still watching intently, everybody else had sidled of to do their own thing somewhere in the vicinity. Mostly that meant seeking shelter from the rain. Except for Stephen Hart, he was standing a few feet away, apparently unaffected by the rain ('That's not natural, he's not human!' Connor had claimed to an exasperated Abby), studying maps of the area.

That was why he was the first one she saw when she stepped through the anomaly.

"Incoming!" A guard shouted. And all eyes and weapons were trained on her.

She stared straight at Stephen. "Dad?" Behind her the anomaly started to waver and fade.

"Dad?"Claudia Brown had come running and was now trying to choose between staring at the newcomer and staring at Stephen.

The newcomer, a young woman, shifted her gaze to Claudia. "You!?But then…Shit!" She turned on her heels, but the anomaly popped out of existence right in front of her. "Bugger!"

"What's going on here?" Nick Cutter joined the scene.

"Oh damn, this can't be happening!" The newcomer whined as she turned back to the growing audience that was staring at her.

"Who are you?" Conner ran up to the scene.

She sighed her eyes darting across all the faces staring at her finally coming to rest on Stephen. "I'm from the future, and I don't want to do anything that could possibly interfere with the course of history so I can't tell you anything more."

"Well, what do we call you then?" Cutter motioned the guards to lower their guns.

She thought deeply for a moment. "You can call me Engjelushe."

Stephen cocked an eyebrow. "That's an African name isn't it."

Engjelushe gave Stephen a meaningful look. "Yes it is."

Claudia looked back and forth between the two, the girl had called Stephen 'dad' she heard it, and she was going to find out who she was and what her connection to Stephen was, she had to.

"Alright, so the next anomaly won't come around for another 3 days so let's go." Engjelushe said cheerfully.

"Wait, how do you know that?" Connor wondered.

"Where I come from we nearly got the anomalies all figured out, all there's really left to do is charting the anomalies, which was what I was doing when I stepped through to your time, now I am feeling like a nice hot bath, so Cutter, your home it is." Cutter stared at her dumbstruck.

Claudia cut in. "I have a bathtub"

"I'm not going with you, I'm going with Nick, come on fellows, chop chop." Engjelushe said adamantly.

She walked over to the white truck and pulled open the door, Nick shot a look at Stephen, who just shrugged and proceeded to get into the truck with Engjelushe. Nick stared a moment longer and then got into the drivers seat.

Claudia watched them drive of, she imprinted the girls looks into her memory dark blond hair, not very tall, lean, muscular, but that could just come from all the running from dinosaurs. There was just something familiar about her, something Claudia couldn't place. And she could have been mistaken, but she thought she detected the hint of a Scottish accent a couple of times…

_In the car_:

Cutter glanced at the girl in the backseat. "So Stephen I'll drop you of at you apartment first?" He and Stephen had been successfully hiding their relationship from the others, but this girl could ruin everything.

Stephen was about to consent when Engjelushe butted in. "Please, why is it that if you guys can be together openly where I come from you can't do so here?"

Cutter blustered. "Wha…huh? How? Excuse me?"

Stephen simply raised an inquisitive eyebrow and said. "Don't ask me, ask him." And shot Nick a soft smile.

"Hey excuse me for liking my job." Cutter defended himself.

Engjelushe smiled. "Well, maybe they aren't ready for you two yet."

"Thank you...I think" Nick muttered.

"So no stopping at Stephen's, just straight to your place Nick, where the both of you belong."

Nick glanced at his strange passenger. "So your from the future, and you know us in the future?"

She smiled softly. "You know I can't tell you much, I don't want to change anything."

"Just tell us a few simple things, like which year are you from?" Nick tried.

"Okay, I can do that, I'm from about 27 years into the future."

"And you work on the anomalies?" Stephen asked.

"Yes, I'm currently on the anomaly charting team, which basically means we step through an anomaly, give it a number and note to which time it leads for future references." Engjelushe explained.

"And you mentioned that you've got the anomalies all figured out?" Nick asked innocently.

She laughed. "Yes, and I'm not going to tell you about it because that could seriously mess with the timeline."

Stephen chuckled quietly. "You had to try didn't you."

Cutter simply shrugged as he pulled up in front of the house.

Obediently Engjelushe trudged after Nick and Stephen to the front door. Nick started patting down his pockets. "Stephen, you got your keys on you?"

Stephen looked slightly alarmed. "No I stopped taking keys along to anomaly sites since I spent two hours combing a forest floor looking for them after a run in with an angry saurian." Nick was marching back to the car to search his bag.

"Well, let's just hope you still have the same lock 27 years in the future." Engjelushe stepped up to the front door, fitted a key in the lock. "Well what do you know." And pushed open the door.

Nick and Stephen gawped at her. "You boys going to actually get inside the house or are you just going to stand there until it gets dark… oh and Nick your keys are on the table, right next to Stephen's." She added as an afterthought.

Once inside Cutter exploded. "How the hell do you have the key to our front door?!"

She shrugged. "Can't really tell you that, but let's just say you know me very well in the future."

"Very well is an understatement, you've got the key to our house." Nick jangled his own keys in her face.

"Right, I think I'm going to take that bath now." And with that Engjelushe dashed up the stairs.

Cutter was about to dash after her when the doorbell rang. "You get the door, I'll deal with our stranger from the future." Stephen said as he started up the stairs. Cutter thought about protesting, but instead sighed and went to the door.

"Claudia… what are you doing here?"

_Upstairs:_

Stephen knocked softly on the bathroom door. "Hey, can we talk for a moment?"

"Okay." Was the muffled reply through the door and Stephen could hear the lock click as it opened.

she let him in. An awkward silence filled the room. "Okay, talk." Engjelushe finally broke the silence.

Stephen sighed and decided to get straight to the point. "You called me dad."

"Crap, I'd hoped you hadn't heard that." She sighed.

"Well I did, so care to explain?" Stephen settled her with a no-nonsense look.

Engjelushe looked thoughtful for a moment. "If I tell you, you've got to promise not to change any of the events that I'm about to tell you about, you've got to let certain things happen, whether you like it or not, I can't risk going back to the future and not being alive anymore."

Stephen nodded. "Okay, I promise, now start talking."

"My name is not really Engjelushe." She started

"I figured as much."

"It's Theresa Charlotte Cutter, Tess for short."

"Cutter? You're Cutter's daughter?" Stephen asked in surprise.

"Yeah, but you're my father too, maybe not by blood, but certainly in every other way." She smiled shyly.

Stephen scrubbed a hand over his face. "I have a daughter?"

_Downstairs_:

"Claudia, what are you doing here?" Cutter stared at the woman in his doorway.

"You didn't think I would leave you alone with an unknown person from the future did you?" Claudia said as she stepped past Cutter into the hallway.

"Ah well, I don't think she's much of a threat really, and besides, Stephen is here in case I need back-up or anything."

Claudia raised an eyebrow. "Stephen?"

"Yeah, you know tall fellow, shoots dinosaurs, Stephen." Cutter smiled.

Claudia huffed. "Funny."

"So really, you don't need to be here, really, go home relax, you deserved some rest." Cutter was already pushing her out of the door.

"Did you know she called Stephen dad?" Claudia said as she walked out the door.

Nick grabbed her shoulder and turned her around. "What?"

"The girl, eehm, Engjelushe, she called Stephen dad, just after she stepped out of the anomaly."

Nick threw a dark look up the stairs. "Is that so?"

_Upstairs_:

"It really all started with aun…Helen." Tess explained.

Stephen raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "Where you going to say aunt Helen?"

She smiled and blushed slightly. "Actually I was going to say aunty Helen."

Stephen laughed. "Aunty Helen, imagine that."

"Anyway, as I was saying, it started with her, after she sort of helped you guys out with an anomaly problem she hung around and kinda told da… Nick about how you and her… you know." Tess started to turn very red.

Stephen was turning red too, but of anger. "She told him, how could she the…"

Tess interrupted him. "Wow, watch what you say around your child will you."

"Right, sorry, the not so nice lady." Stephen finished.

"Well, I'm very grateful she told Nick, because her telling him ultimately resulted in my conception, which means that when in your timeline, she tells him, you can't stop her from doing it, if you do I'm dead… no even worse, non-existent." Tess warned.

Stephen nodded seriously. "No stopping her, got it."

"Good, you see at the same time she tells Nick Claudia disappears."

"Disappears?"

"Yeah erased from time really, and you and Nick break up because of the whole Helen thing… but don't worry it all works out in the end." Tess quickly added.

Stephen chuckled. "I kinda figured that since you're standing here calling me dad."

Tess laughed too. "Yeah, of course. Anyway, Nick was so angry and frustrated with everything that when Claudia returned after 3 months he sorta… well, to blow of steam he… he…"

"Slept with her?" Stephen supplied helpfully.

"Yeah, and that's how I get conceived."

_Downstairs_:

"She could've just mistaken him for somebody else." Nick tried.

"Maybe." Claudia didn't sound convinced. She made a move to go upstairs, but Cutter stopped her.

"Where are you going?" Nick tried hard to keep the worry out of his voice, unfortunately he was certain that if Claudia made her way any further into the house there would be no disguising the fact that Stephen had been living there for almost four years and counting.

"I want to find out what that woman is up to." Claudia answered apparently oblivious to Cutter's worries.

"Well Stephen is talking to her right now, I'm sure he'll find out why she's here, and really she's what, twenty-five? I don't think she'll be much of a threat." Nick was once again trying to slowly guide Claudia towards the front door.

Claudia shook her head. "Hmm, I don't know, there's something about her, I don't know what it is."

_Upstairs_:

"So… wait… Helen tells Nick about her and me, so Nick gets mad, Claudia disappears, but returns three months later and Nick sleeps with her and gets her pregnant?" Stephen recapped.

"Yes, exactly, but you're not going to remember Claudia when she disappears, you'll remember I told you about a Claudia, but you don't know who she is." Stephen gave Tess an odd look. "I know, time travel and all that comes with it is very complicated, don't try to understand, it's a guarantee for a good headache."

"Okay, but why didn't Nick marry Claudia and be a happy family with her?" Stephen wondered out loud.

"Being erased from time and everything, it changed Claudia, she was not the same woman you know now." Tess explained.

"Changed how?"

Tess sighed. "I don't know exactly, you see, I don't really know Claudia."

Stephen frowned. "She's your mother, yet you don't know her?"

"Well I had you and Nick didn't I, I didn't need a mother." Tess smiled.

"Okay, hold on, you skipped a bit, how do we get from Claudia being your mother, to me being your… mother?" Stephen asked.

Tess laughed. "Nobody realized Claudia had changed at first, I don't even think she knew it, and she and Nick did try to live together and be the happy family, but it didn't work, Nick was still in love with you, and Claudia was too restless, she left just before my first birthday, stepped through an anomaly and didn't return for 7 years."

"How could she leave like that." Stephen asked anger seeping into his voice.

"Hold on a sec, the Claudia that left Nick and me, that wasn't the Claudia from right now okay, you can't be mad at her, that's not her." Tess pointed out.

Stephen nodded. "Yeah okay."

"Good, she left and you offered to help Nick out for a while and a while became for as long as I live."

Stephen shook his head. "Who would've thought…"

"Oh and Helen really turned around once she met me, baby me that is, she became my favourite aunt, brought me all sorts of cool stuff like prehistoric ferns and rocks from the cretaceous period… She even brought me a pet baby triceratops once, but you guys wouldn't let me keep it." Tess gave Stephen her best pout.

Stephen laughed. "I'm very sorry you couldn't keep your pet triceratops."

"You know it's funny, this morning…well actually the morning in the future…oh you know, before I stepped through the anomaly in my time you were there, and you told me to tell you everything, I thought you meant to say that I could always tell you anything, which I thought was a strange thing to say at a time like that, but coming here I figured it out, you… future you, wanted me to tell you, you you, everything I just told you, but how did you know? Oh time travel gives me a headache." Tess laughed.

"What date was it when you left?" Stephen suddenly asked.

"15 March 2034, why… Because I just told you how you could know when I would meet you so you could tell me to tell you, of course." Tess realized.

"Exactly, now go take that bath, I'll get Nick of your back."

Tess quickly pecked Stephen on the cheek, "Thanks dad." And then pushed him out of the bathroom.

Heading back downstairs Stephen could hear two people vehemently discussing something, he knew one of them was Cutter, and the other one must have been whoever was at the door, it turned out to be Claudia.

"What if she's sent here to spy, so they can find weak spots to attack or something." Claudia tried to convince Nick.

"That wouldn't make any sense, why would they want to attack us and risk erasing their own existence?" Nick argued.

"Alright, then maybe she's an assassin, what better way to get rid of someone than to completely erase them from time?" Claudia tried again.

Nick shook his head. "She doesn't really have the look of a ruthless killer now does she?"

Claudia had to concede to that. "Well no she doesn't , but all I'm saying is that we can't be too careful with visitors from the future, who knows who she is or what could go wrong."

Stephen decided to intervene. "She's not a threat, she's not going to erase anyone's existence and she's really careful and will do her very best not to let anything go wrong."

"Stephen, did you find out who she is?" Nick asked.

Stephen smiled to himself. "Yes, she's Engjelushe, she's from the future and she's a really nice girl."

Claudia frowned. "How can you be sure?"

Stephen narrowed his eyes at her, but remembered how Tess had said that she was not the woman who left Tess and Nick. "Trust me, I'm sure."

Nick nodded and once again tried to get Claudia to leave. "Well now that that is settled you can go home."

"But she called you dad." Claudia pointed an accusatory finger at Stephen.

Stephen gave her a blank look. "She did?"

"Yes, I heard it."

"Well, I didn't hear it, did you Nick?" Stephen threw Nick a questioning look.

Nick shrugged. "No I wasn't there when she first stepped through the anomaly, so I don't know."

Claudia looked slightly panicky and Stephen almost felt sorry about lying to her like this. "Maybe you need to get your ears checked Claudia, because she didn't call me dad."

"There's nothing wrong with my ears." Claudia said offended.

Nick sighed. "Just drop it Claudia, apparently we know her very well in the future so in time we'll find out who she is."

Claudia sighed too. "Okay, I guess, well see you guys later." She said as she stepped outside slightly disappointed.

Nick shut the door behind her. "Okay, so who is she really?"

"Claudia Brown, government official, remember?" Stephen said as he jabbed a thumb at the now closed front door.

Nick wasn't amused. "Engjelushe, who is she really?"

"Like I said, she's one of the good guys."

_Three days later_:

A shiny sparkling anomaly appeared exactly when and where Tess had predicted it would and Connor was very excitedly trying to pry the secret out of her. "Don't worry Connor, you'll figure it out when the time is right."

"But couldn't you just give a guy a small hint?" Her look told him she wouldn't. "A tiny hint? Hey, don't walk away!"

"Well it was a pleasure, but I really have to go." She said, she turned to Stephen and whispered, "Bye dad." And stepped through the anomaly.

"Dad, she called you dad, I heard it this time!" Claudia shouted.

Stephen smiled at her. "Sure she did Claudia, if you say so."

"But she did, I heard her…I did, really…"

The End

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Review please!


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